In This Issue...

Newbies Nook - Information, Tips, and Instruction for Computer Users

Forum Favorites - Popular Questions and Threads from the Forum

Security Corner - Computer Security Tips and News

Carol's Corner Office - Microsoft Office and OpenOffice How-To's and Tips

Dave's Recommended Software - Our Picks of the Best Software Available

The State of Broadband Internet - How internet offerings affect us

Useful Free Software - Free Software Found on the Net and Recommended by Readers

Useful Websites - Useful Websites Found on the Net and Recommended by Readers

The Lighter Side - Funny, Interesting, and Thought Provoking Items Found During Our Travels Across the Internet

Build Your Own Computer!

We all know how much I love my Windows Home Server, but the computer WHS lives on was dying a slow and painful death. Several of the capacitors on the motherboard were bulging, and one had actually burst. As a result the computer was becoming unstable, which is not a useful trait for a home server! I decided it was time to replace the aging computer and start looking for a replacement, which means it is a good time to talk about what I bought and why, as well as give you an idea of how it goes together!

In recent issues we have talked about Motherboards, Hard Drives, and RAM. If you haven't read these articles now is a good time to catch up!

To build a computer you need eight basic components:

1. A case to hold everything
2. A motherboard to connect everything to
3. A Central Processing Unit (CPU) to provide the "brain"
4. Memory to provide short term storage
5. A hard drive for long term storage
6. A CD/DVD drive to load programs
7. A power supply to power everything
8. Fans to keep it cool

Case and Power Supply

The computer case you choose needs to be large enough to hold everything you plan to add now and in the future, while having a design that you find suitable and appealing. My goal was to find a case that was simple in design, able to hold at least 5 hard drives, have space for at least 2 additional fans, and have an included power supply

After searching Newegg.com and reading lots of specs I settled on a reasonably priced case by HEC for $50. This case has a simple black design, can fit ATX and MicroATX motherboards, has space for at least 5 hard drives, and a 585 watt power supply to power everything.

Motherboard

I already had 4 hard drives in my server totaling 1.73TB (1730 gigabytes) of storage. I could not justify replacing the hard drives, but I need to take into account future storage needs. Because my drives are the older IDE interface that presents a special problem. The SATA interface has become the de facto interface for hard drives and is becoming more prominent with CD/DVD drives as well. Because of this motherboard manufacturers are removing the IDE interface, or limiting IDE connections to the minimum of one. Each IDE connector on a motherboard can control 2 devices. I have 4 hard drives, so I have to find a motherboard with 2 IDE connectors and a few SATA connectors for future expansion. Back to NewEgg.com, where I found an Asrock 4CoreDual-SATA2 motherboard for a reasonable $60. The mother board supports Intel dual core processors, plenty of RAM for a server, 2 IDE channels, and 2 SATA connectors for future hard drive additions.

CPU

A server isn't performing computationally intensive operations, but Windows Home Server accepts Add-ins. These add-ins do require a bit of CPU power. A power house CPU just isn't required in this situation, but a bottom of the barrel CPU won't cut it either. I chose a reasonably priced Intel Dual Core 2.0Ghz processor for $70. The processor is a retail version, which means it comes with a cooling fan.

Memory

Servers generally aren't memory intensive either, but the add-ins for WHS do require a bit more than the minimum recommended by Microsoft of 512MB. 1GB would be a good start, but I chose to go with 2GB just to be on the safe side. Besides, you never know what the future will bring! I found 2GB of Corsair RAM for $32.

Hard Drives

This was the easiest choice! I have 4 that I plan to reuse in the new server. Whew, that was easy! (grin)

CD/DVD Drive

Another easy choice. I already have an IDE CD/DVD drive if I really needed one. The OS for the server is already installed on the current hard drives, and the BIOS on the motherboard recognizes by external USB DVD drive, so I'll install my current drive in the case, but I won't even hook it up.

Fans

Heat kills computers. Fans move hot air out of the case and cool air it. The case came with an 80mm fan mounted on the rear of the case. The CPU came with a fan to cool it. The only issue I worried about was the hard drives, which produce a lot of heat. This is especially true with you have four! I picked a 120mm fan to mount directly in front of the drives for $6. This fan lowered hard drive temperatures by 10 degrees Celsius!

There you have it. A complete computer with the exact items I need for a functional home server today and in the future. Total cost - $240. In the next issue I'll cover what it took to put it all together!

So what do you think? Did I buy the right components? Would you have chosen anything different? Let me know below!

Note: Problems in Paradise will now be called Forum Favorites. In this area I will post links to popular and interesting forum threads. I obviously can not reply to every email I receive for help, though I've tried. Posting your computer problems in the forum means you will get answers quickly, and others who share your problem will be able to find an answer much easier! Come on over to the forum and ask, answer, or just hang out!

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What do you think about the new look of Daves Computer Tips - Please visit the forum and share your thoughts!

Right Click Menu - add Copy To / Move To - Ozbloke want to know if you can add these options to the right click menu.

Bypass the login screen - Mindblower asks for help and finds an answer.

Silverlight - Have you heard of it? Segmat wants to know what it is.

Google Chrome - Google recently launched a new browser. Share your thoughts and read what others think.

Remove the Finished Downloading Popup in Firefox - Find out how to do it!

Linux Games - Do you play games on Linux? Share them with Ziggie!

How secure is your computer - Ziggie wants to know and offers his thoughts.

Free Anti-Spyware and Anti-Virus programs - Do you use them? What are your thoughts?

How to Install and Configure TrueCrypt Disk Encryption - Part 2

In Part 1 (Issue 39 – August 1, 2008), I promised to show you how to use TrueCrypt, the free open source encryption program, to encrypt an entire drive. (If you haven't read that issue, please do so now, as this article assumes you've already installed TrueCrypt.) Data breaches caused by lost or stolen USB flash drives seem to be the latest trend (see below). So, rather than showing you how to encrypt a hard drive, I'm going to show you how to encrypt a USB flash drive so that anything you store on it will be unreadable to anyone but you (or someone who has the passphrase). I'll cover full-drive encryption on hard drives in Part 3.

TrueCrypt allows you to encrypt entire partitions, complete hard drives, or USB flash drives (which, after all, look like hard drives to the system). Most of you won't need to encrypt your PC's entire hard drive--a simple encrypted volume where you store your sensitive information is usually sufficient. For those who own laptops that have sensitive personal or business information on them, full-drive encryption is recommended. If you travel frequently with a laptop, then full-drive encryption is essential. Likewise, if you back up sensitive data to a USB flash drive, you'll want to encrypt the whole thing. Flash drives are small and easily lost or stolen; in fact, USB flash drives have been the cause of serious data breaches. The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC) states that over 93 million data records of U.S. residents have been exposed due to security breaches since February 2005. According to Beth Givens, Director of the PRC, “The latest trend to show up is the loss of memory sticks.”

Creating an encrypted USB flash drive is a little different than creating an encrypted hard drive because it has to be portable: i.e., the TrueCrypt program must reside on the flash drive. That way, no matter where you plug it in, you'll be able to open your files. Any flash drive should work, but you want to be sure to copy any data off of it before you encrypt it because the procedure I'm about to give you will erase everything on the drive.

The first thing you need to do is locate the following three files: TrueCrypt Format.exe, TrueCrypt.exe, and truecrypt.sys. The easiest way to find them is to search your hard drive using "truecrypt*.*" as the search term.

(click the image for a larger view)

Copy these to your flash drive. In my case, the drive letter was F:\.

Now, run TrueCrypt Format.exe. Leave the default “Create a standard TrueCrypt volume” radio button selected, then click Next:

After you click next, you'll see the device selection screen. Leave “Never save history” checked and click “Select File”:

Navigate to your drive letter, if necessary, enter the name you want for your encrypted volume in the filename box and click Open:

Note that your drive and filename is now shown as the volume location. Go ahead and read the information on the screen and click Next:

The default Encryption Options are more than sufficient, but you can change them if you want. If you don't want to change them, just click Next:

Now, you'll specify the size for your encrypted volume. You need to leave the TrueCrypt files in unencrypted space. In version 6.0a, these files take up 1.48 MB on your drive. I recommend you set the volume size to 5 MB less than what TrueCrypt reports as free space. In my case, free space is 960.57 MB, so I'm going to specify my volume size as 955 MB. Click the “MB” radio button and enter your volume size in the box. Click Next:

Now, you're going to enter a password. Read all of the information on the screen and note that 20 characters is recommended. You can check the “Display password” box to make it easy for you to enter your password. See How to Create Secure Passwords That You Can Safely Write Down (Issue 35 - March 15th, 2008) for some secure password tips. Another good article is How to Write Down Your Passwords and Not Worry About Someone Stealing Them at Ask the Geek. I recommend you write your password down or take a screen shot and store it in a safe place—if you forget your password, there's no way to recover your data. The password I entered is 34 characters, upper/lower case and special characters. Click Next.

Now, you'll be prompted to select your file system. I chose the default, FAT, but you can also select NTFS if you wish (MAC and Linux users will have other options). Click the “Format” button:

The screen will begin to change and will report the progress of the encryption. This may take awhile, depending on the size of your drive. Just let it go until it's complete:

You'll see this report. Read it and click OK:

At the next screen, click Exit and you've successfully created an encrypted flash drive volume.

To use your new encrypted flash drive, just plug it into any USB port, open up the drive letter and double-click truecrypt.exe. Select any available drive letter and then click Select File:

Select the name of the volume you created:

Note the drive letter/file you selected and click Mount:

Enter your password. Click “Display password” if it helps you to enter your password correctly. Click OK when you're done:

Your encrypted volume is now mounted and you can minimize TrueCrypt:

Your mounted drive will show up in My Computer. The K:\ drive is the encrypted drive; F:\ is the unencrypted portion of the flash drive:

Anything you store on the K:\ drive (or whatever drive letter you've chosen) will be encrypted.

When you're finished storing data, access the TrueCrypt screen again, select your encrypted drive letter, and click “Dismount:”

Once you've dismounted the drive, it's safe to remove it. A word of caution: Never try to remove the flash drive from the system until you've dismounted it—you can lose data or corrupt your encrypted volume.

Ken Harthun is the Security Editor for Daves Computer Tips. He also writes about security issues for IT Knowledge Exchange and blogs on general Geek things at Ask the Geek. You can read more about Ken here.

Hi everyone,

Boy did we love the south! We just returned from visiting Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia. I know I will go back because I loved it so much! I just love the way the spanish moss hangs from the trees. It really is beautiful! The people are very friendly and it's a slower pace of living there. I really enjoyed myself.

Ok, on with the article now.

Using Change Case and Clear Formatting Commands in Word 2007

I have had quite a few inquiries regarding this latest version of MS Word and so I thought I would write an article covering some of the cool ways that this version of Word has changed and how it makes life easier for those of you that own a license for this application.

There are a couple of ways to make formatting easier for you in Word 2007 and I am all about saving time and less keystrokes!

It isn't always intuitive where to find everything on the Ribbon in Word 2007 but this should help you out. Your could change case and clear formatting in older versions of MS Word and I now I will tell you how to do it in the latest version!

To change chase in your document, follow the steps below:

1. Open the Home tab.
2. In the Font group, click the Change Case command.
3. Select the case that is suitable.

You can also use the shortcut Shift + F3 to do the same thing.

The Command Clear Formatting is very intuitive and does exactly what you think it would.

If, after you have made several formatting changes to a paragraph, you decide that you liked it better before you made the changes, you can reverse it back to the way you want it very quickly.

Follow the steps below to learn how:

1. Select the paragraph.
2. Open the Home tab.
3. In the Font group, click Clear Formatting.

MS Word will remove all formatting from the selected text, returning it to your document's default formats.

Remember, you do not want to use the Undo button because if you have added any text, you run the risk of undoing that as well!

If you have any specific questions about Office 2007 or earlier versions, please let me know and I will do my best to get you an answer. Better yet, post your question in Office section of the Forum!

Until next time, take care of YOU!

Carol Bratt is the Office Applications Editor at Daves Computer Tips. She has authored several informative Microsoft Office books and writes the monthly Word Bytes Newsletter with more tips and tricks in each issue. Visit Carol's website for more great Microsoft Office tips and tricks! Click here to see her latest books! You can read more about Carol here.

Anti-spyware and Anti-malware Software

Webroot SpySweeper - Daves Computer Tips Seal of Approval Winner! See the test results HERE. Spysweeper provides the best protection of the seven anti-spyware programs tested! Great detection and removal rates with a small real-time protection memory footprint. This is the one you want! SpySweeper includes the ASK toolbar. Be sure to uncheck this option during installation. Free 14 day trial.

CounterSpy - Runner-up in my Anti-Spyware test. Not only does CounterSpy scan and remove spyware, it also uses real time protection. Real-time protection prevents spyware infection. Free 15 day trial. Winner of Computer Shopper Magazine's Best Buy Award!

Antivirus and Firewall Software

ESET Smart Security - New from the maker's of NOD32. Antivirus, Antispyware, Antispam, and Firewall all wrapped into one effective, swift, and low resource package. It is what I use to protect each of my computers!

Kaspersky Antivirus - Kaspersky is my second choice for antivirus software. A good program that is very close in performance to NOD32. Free trial.

Online Armor Firewall - You shouldn't be on the internet without a software firewall that offers inbound and outbound protection. Online Armor is the Best of the Best. Online Armor uses an interface that is easier to navigate than most other firewalls and the protection level can't be beat! Online Armor is available in both a free and reasonably priced paid version, which offers even more protection!

Audio and Video Software

Acoustica Audio Converter Pro - This program converts audio formats and bitrates. Perfect for those with portable audio players or large music collections. 30 day trial.

Adobe Premier Elements 7 - Elements is the home version of Adobe Premiere, the best professional video editing suite today. Premier Elements costs 1/6th the price of the professional version, but is very capable of making videos that will impress everyone.

DVDFab is my favorite DVD software. I tried over 30 different programs before settling on DVDFab. It offers every function of the other programs and more! Copy, burn, shrink, convert for mobile devices, or convert for streaming. Almost all of the other programs I've tried did not function as advertised, were extremely slow, or did not have features that worked as advertised. DVDFab works, and works as advertised! It's easy to use, has a pleasant user interface, and it updated often.

Computer Hardware

Crucial Memory - Memory (RAM) is the upgrade that gives any computer the best bang for the buck. If you want to speed things up with more memory, why not purchase it from the leading source of quality RAM memory. Great selection, good prices, excellent support, and a lifetime warranty! A real winner!

CyberGuys - The place to get those hard to find cables and accessories for your computer!

HP Computers - My current pick for new laptops and desktops. In the current market I don't think you can beat HP's combination of price and performance. Their laptop line is very cost effective and the design is absolutely beautiful!

Newegg - Newegg.com is known for great service and awesome pricing on computers, upgrades, and electronics. If you're looking for computers, computer parts, or electronics you owe it to yourself to start here! Great Products. Great Prices. Great Customer Service!

Computer Maintenance Software

Diskeeper 2008 - My current favorite defrag program. As files are written and erased from the hard drive they begin to leave "spaces" behind. When the drive is written to again files are broken up to fill in these spaces. This causes the drive to go to several different locations to read an entire file, which slows performance greatly. Diskeeper has several advanced features such as; automatic defrag, scheduled defrag, and the ability to defrag the MFT (Master File Table) and paging file. 30 day trial.

Registry Mechanic - A very thorough and efficient registry cleaner and defragmenter. A definite must to maintain peak performance and stabile operation. 30 day trial.

Computer Utility Software

Acronis True Image 2010 - Do you value the data on your computer? Do you value your time? How much time will you spend recovering data and returning your computer to its original state after a hardware failure or software glitch? True Image is my #1 choice in backup tools. Whether you choose file or image based backups (you should use both!) True Image will perform better than any other application I've used. Disk images created with True Image are generally 10-20% smaller than those from comparable programs. If your time and files are as important to you as mine are to me this is a must have.

Acronis Disk Director - My favorite tool to partition, format, and resize hard drives.

Roboform - This program is the next best thing since sliced bread in my book! This program integrates into Internet Explorer and firefox. It generates very secure passwords at the click of a button. How do I remember these complex passwords? Roboform allows you to save passwords and personal data in an encrypted format. A master password (yes only one password to remember!) allows access. Roboform in IE and FireFox works like a super powered bookmark. You click the site you want to go to and Roboform opens the site, enters your username and password for the site (if required) and as if by magic clicks the submit button. If you shop online Roboform can enter your personal information and credit card information, which is also stored in a secure encrypted file, in one click. A real time saver with great security thrown in to boot! 30 day trial.

WinRar - What is commonly called a zip utility, similar to the more widely known WinZip. WinRar is faster and works with more formats for about 1/2 the price of WinZip. 30 day trial.

Desktop Utility Software

Bootskin Vista - Change the boot screen (the one with the moving bar) in Vista. It's free!

LogonStudio - Change the screen that appears when you log into Windows (where you enter your password). Hundreds of skins available online. It's free.

CursorFX Plus - Change the cursors on your computer, add interesting effects. Hundreds of cursor packs are available online for free.

IconPackager 4 - Icon Packager puts you in control to change every icon with the click of a button. Tired of the plain icons built into Windows? There are hundreds of Icon Packs available online for free, which will add a truly personal feel to your computer.

WindowBlinds 6 - WindowBlinds changes the look and feel of Windows. By changing the appearance of the task bar, start menu, and any other window or program you open. It adds transparency, shadows, alpha blending, and animations. Hundreds of themes are available online for free.

Internet and Email

1&1 hosting - If you want to start your own website, blog, photo gallery, or have a personalized email address then 1&1 is for you. 1&1 can not be beat for reliability, features, support, and price. 90 day guarantee.

Google Gmail - The best internet based email (webmail) available. Each mailbox has a 6.5GB limit. The interface is superb, and the spam filter is top notch. You will never need to delete an email again! It has a great search function and a feature called thread view, which makes finding emails easy. A webmail account offers several advantages including not being required to change your email address if you change service providers. Gmail requires an invitation from a current member. If you are interested shoot me an email and I'll send you an invite.

Microsoft Outlook 2007 - Outlook is the current email client of choice for corporate America. I get well over 200 emails a day. Outlook has a few features I really need such as a plug in for automatic backups, office sounds which offers me some audible feedback, and the ability to change headers. I've used Mozilla Thunderbird and liked it a lot. With the amount of mail I go through I really need the features of Outlook. If you aren't a heavy user, or don't need the features I do then Thunderbird is a great alternative.

Firefox 3 - An amazing, free, web browser. If you aren't using it you should be! Highly customizable through addins called extensions. There are thousands of extensions which can allow FireFox to do just about anything you can imagine. More importantly, Firefox is not subject to ActiveX, which is a large part of Internet Explorer, AOL, and MSN. No ActiveX means much less chance of getting spyware! Firefox also conforms to web standards more closely than Internet Explorer, which means you will see what the authors intended, not Microsoft.

Mozilla Thunderbird - A great free email client, from the same folks that brought us FireFox. Easy to use and highly customizable through extensions.

Photo and Picture Software

Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 - Photoshop Elements is the home version of Adobe Photoshop. If you are serious about digital photos you will find Photoshop Elements a great program to have at your disposal. Elements provides all the functionality most will need at 1/6th the price of the full Photoshop version.

Picasa - A great (FREE) way to organize, edit, and share your digital photos.

What is going on in the broadband market?

One term you hear quite often is Broadband. Internet Service Providers throw the term around like it is the magic wand of internet happiness! Those who don't have it want it, those who do have it love it.

Internet service is generally broken down into two segments:

• NarrowBand - An internet connection with a speed equal to or less than 56Kbps. Commonly referred to as "dial-up internet" and utilizes a connection over standard telephone lines.
• BroadBand - An internet connection with a speed equal to or greater than 256Kbps, though most commonly has speeds between 1.5Mbps and 10Mbps. Broadband requires a special modem and utilizes a coaxial cable and/or fiber based infrastructure.

I've had broadband over five years. I'm lucky enough to be in an area where it is available. Not everyone is as fortunate. Why doesn't everyone have access to broadband?

• A small portion of the reason is education - inexperienced computer users may not realize the cost is marginally (if at all) more expensive than dial-up in populated areas, they may be satisfied with the status quo, or they may have not investigated the availability of faster connections.
• The largest portion is the providers themselves do not have an monetary incentive to build the infrastructure necessary to provide this service to those in less densely populated areas. As most companies these days, they don't look at the big picture. No money today = no broadband today. Period.

So what is "The Big Picture"?

To put it simply broadband access to the internet is important not only to individuals, but to the growth and wealth of entire countries! Looking at information available from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD) we can see striking similarities between broadband access and the profitability of a country.

This graph shows the number of people per 100 residents who have access to broadband, and which technology they are using for access, by country.

(click the image for a larger view)

The following graph shows increases per 100 residents from 2006 to 2007.

(click the image for a larger view)

Looking at the previous two graphs one might assume that countries with better broadband access have residents who mostly live in large cities, or have a high density of population. This is not necessarily the case! The red line indicates population density for each country, while the blue bars show broadband penetration.

(click the image for a larger view)

Clearly Iceland, Finland, and Canada have low population densities, but better access to broadband than countries such as the United States - Birthplace of the Internet, Australia, Japan, etc.

OK, looking at only the top 50% of the population by landmass, or the density of the top 50% of the population, may shed some light on this. Countries further to the right indicate a less dense population, while their height indicates higher broadband availability. The less densely populated a country is, the more difficult it is to get a broadband signal from point A to point B.

(click the image for a larger view)

Well that didn't clear anything up. We still see the same countries at the top of the list. Let's look at cost to the subscriber by country.

Isn't it interesting that countries with higher broadband availability generally have lower subscription costs?

So where am I going with this? I used the information above to show that:

1. It isn't necessarily the "richest" countries in the world who are spearheading the broadband revolution.
2. Providers saying they can not roll out the infrastructure because it isn't profitable, or easy, to connect more rural customers just isn't a good excuse!

So what does this mean?

The GDP, or Gross Domestic Product, of a country is a measure of the profitability of that country. A higher GDP generally equals a wealthier country. A wealthier country means citizens who are better off and more financially stable.

(click the image for a larger view)

Notice the red line (indicating GDP) generally follows the broadband graph? Many would say broadband is related to GDP and countries with a low GDP can't afford to roll out broadband internet to it's citizens. I see this differently. Look to the countries with the highest broadband penetration on the left of the graph. I see these countries as being "ahead of the game". They are smart enough to realize the internet opens many doors for their country, both financial and social.

While it may be true that a financial wealthy country may have higher broadband penetration - I argue that higher broadband penetration is required for a financially wealthy country! I see Denmark, The Netherlands, Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, Korea, and Sweden as leaders. Their countries realize the importance of technology to their country, and will benefit from this decision in the future.

Better, faster, access to the internet leads to job growth - plain and simple! Look at companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, Ebay, and Microsoft. Each company has experienced huge growth as a direct result of better internet access to the citizens.

Why should you care?

Here in the U.S. Comcast, one of the larger nationwide providers, just announced 250GB bandwidth limits. Time Warner, another leading provider, is discussing tiered pricing for both speed and consumption. Both actions will further slow broadband growth and use.

While 250GB may seem like a lot, consider a family of 4. Dad works from home, via the internet. Mom searches for recipes and chats with her grown children across the country. The 2 children at home love to play their friends on their Wii, Xbox, or Playstation. The whole family has "movie nights" on Friday and Saturday, where they download a movie through one of the various internet movie services. Now they are forced to cut back on their entertainment (movies, games, online videos) so Dad can continue to work from home and not have to pay additional money the family doesn't have.

The "kicker" in all of this? Both companies advertised the service as unlimited!

The internet has become more of a necessary utility, like electricity and heat, than a "nice to have" entertainment feature. It benefits us in many ways, both economically and socially. Imagine the gas and energy saved by each person who works from home, or by downloading a movie from Netflix instead of driving to a video rental store. Governments need to realize the internet is an important piece of a country's economic pie and act as such.

Just this week in the U.S. Congress took the first step with the Broadband Data Improvement Act, which will force government agencies to better track internet access and costs. Hopefully it won't be the last step.

What is internet access like where you live? Is your government taking steps to improve access? Share your experiences below!

Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder - This free program should be in everyone's computer toolkit. Magical Jellybean Keyfinder will find and display product registration keys for every version of Windows from Win95 to Vista, as well as Server 2003 and 2008, and Office XP, 2003, and 2007.

HP Smart Web Printing - If you are one who likes to have a hard copy of web pages, or prints pages often you may find this useful. This program makes it easy to print pages without the web ads and banners. Saves paper and ink. This will work with HP printers, and should work with others! - XP/vista (thanks to Herbert)

System Information for Windows (SIW) - This program gives detailed information about your computer. Information such as a hardware report, software report, and more are just a simple click away. The program allows you to save the reports in a variety of different formats.

Taskix - Have you ever wanted to put the icons in your taskbar in a different order? This program does it and works in XP and Vista both 32bit and 64bit.

Inkubook.com - The Holidays are approaching quickly and this may be just the gift for you to give to a loved one. Microsoft has partnered with Inkubook to showcase their Silverlight technology. Inkubook will allow you to create a photo album, sometimes called a coffee table photo book, using your own design and photos. The service and finished book are FREE. So what's the catch? All you have to do is share the service with a friend. Pretty neat!

Textreminders.net - Use your computer to send text (SMS) messages. This is a great way to send text messages when you aren't near your cell phone, or if you prefer the convenience of a full sized keyboard!

AnyVite - Planning a party, get together, or event? Use Anyvite to plan and coordinate the event with friends.

Amazing Wooden Machine - An older, retired man with a woodworking passion. The love, devotion, and time this man must have given to this is amazing! ~ Thanks Herb

Amazing #2 - Here is another one. I really wish I had the talent to do this.

Free electricity - Interesting. I know a little about electricity and I don't think this is possible, but you never know. Could this device be powering your house soon?

Let's throw in a water powered car just for fun - 22 gallons from New York to L.A.!